Simple Scalloped Potatoes from Scratch Recipe

Lately, Home Ec 101 has been focusing on cooking basics, and in my opinion, Scalloped Potatoes are about as basic as it gets when it comes to side dishes. They go with practically anything, and with the right recipe, made-from-scratch scalloped potatoes are almost as easy as a boxed mix, so much better for you, and waaaay better tasting! And (lucky you) it just so happens I’ve got the right recipe.

While most scalloped potato recipes call for first making a white sauce, or using a can of condensed soup instead, this recipe is even better. Why? There is no white sauce to make and no canned soup with this Simple Scalloped Potatoes from Scratch Recipe. It makes its own sauce as it bakes! So, the hardest bit is peeling and slicing the potatoes, which you know isn’t really hard at all.

What variety to use? Some say only red. Other say definitely yellow. While I do like both of those varieties, I prefer white potatoes in this recipe. It’s up to you, really. My honest opinion, based completely in practicality, is this: use what you have. Or what’s on sale. Seriously, I’ve tried scalloped potatoes using different varieties, and they all end up delicious. Don’t fret.

You’ll see the recipe calls for onions. I prefer yellow, but use what you like — even scallions would work and give you a bit different flavor. If you’re tempted to omit onions because some family members are Not Onion People, please don’t. It’s really an essential part of the flavor here. Instead of sliced onions, though, you could use a smaller amount of finely minced onion.

While I served these golden-browned, creamy scalloped potatoes with a pan-fried ham slice and peas, they’ll pair well with chicken (roasted or fried or even boneless breasts browned in butter), steak, roast beef, burgers, pork roast or chops, turkey — pretty much any non-pasta entree. And easy? Oh yeah, this one is a piece of cake. (Only, much easier than cake – for me anyway. I’m really not a baker.) Once they’re assembled and in the oven, little attention is required. They’ll bake while you work on the rest of the meal. Or read a book. Or, you know….write one.

Choose a 2-quart baking dish, preferably no more than 2 to 3 inches deep. If you’re not sure it’ll hold 2 quarts, try filling it with 8 cups of water. Seriously, if it won’t, you’ll be cleaning the oven after baking this dish. If it holds a bit more than 2 quarts, that’s probably even better. Make sure it’s big enough, then rub the inside with butter.

Start heating the milk — you can either microwave it or do it on the stovetop in a small pan. Do not boil it, just get it very hot. Once it’s hot, set it aside.

Wash the potatoes, scrubbing them if they’re very dirty. Peel them using a potato peeler or a sharp paring knife, and remove the eyes, if any.

Cut potatoes into slices between 1/8 and 1/4 inch. Don’t sweat it. If they’re around that thickness, more or less, you’re good. Make sure you’ve got about a quart, or 4 cups, of potato slices.

Make a layer of one-fourth of the potatoes, about a cup, in the casserole dish. Top that with one-fourth of the onion, 1 tablespoon flour, 1/4 teaspoon of salt, and a dash of pepper.

Now we’re going to “dot with butter.” Here’s how: take 1 tablespoon of the butter and cut it into a dozen or so small bits, then distribute those more or less evenly over the potato/onion/flour layer.

Repeat 2 more times, making a total of three layers of potatoes, onions, flour, salt, pepper, and butter.

Now, do one more layer, same as the previous ones, except with no flour.

Pour the hot milk over the potatoes, then cover tightly with foil.

Place in preheated oven, being careful not to spill the liquid.

Bake 30 minutes. Remove foil and bake until potatoes are tender and the top is golden brown, about 45 minutes longer. If you chose a deeper casserole dish, it may take up to another 20 minutes.

Carefully remove from oven – the sauce will be on the thin side right now. Let stand about 10 minutes for sauce to thicken before serving.

32 Comments

Ginnyon March 3, 2018 at 12:02 pm

Thank you, Thank you Thank you!!! My grandmother made her’s the exact same way. I remember watching her sprinkle the flour and warming the milk. I could never find a recipe that shows it this way. They always want you to make a rue. I can’t wait to try it! She also put cut up ham it with the potatoes, instead of on the side. I will be making this tonight!!

I have to laugh at people who rate a recipe and then proceed to tell everyone how they altered it so that it doesn’t resemble the recipe they’ve just rated. Like ” I made the beef stew, but I substituted pork, omitted the onion, added some chicken stock, pork gravy and cooked it in the oven instead of in a Dutch oven”. Psssst ….. you didn’t make beef stew!

I’ve been making these for years. My mom made these. I’m 59. I don’t even use a recipe. Just get out all the ingredients including leftover ham and start layering. I dint understand why people want to cook the sauce in the stove and add cheese. It’s true over the years people have confused scalloped potatoes with au gratin potatoes. My mom just passed away. Will keep this method close to my heart❤️❤️❤️❤️

Sam, Why did you blast Pam when all she asked was a crock pot version of the same recipe? When the weather is hot, one doesn’t want to heat up the house. A crock pot recipe would probably take 9-12 hours on low. It would a test to see if anything about the outcome was not as good as from scratch.

Really delicious original made from scratch scallop potatoes recipe. If it’s original you want this won’t disappoint.

But it never ceases to amaze me on recipe sites how no matter what the recipe is for people still have to change it and repost as tho the recipe is about their way of making scalloped potatoes and not the author’s.

Get a life people and show a little respect for the author. NO one cares how YOU made it. If you all want to post YOUR recipes then get your own sites. IMO

Finally I have been looking for this recipe forever. Used to make it every Christmas to go with our ham. After many moves I lost it used box mix last year never again. Also I never add cheese scalloped potatoes do not have cheese ever. Thank you

No cheese! Trust me.
The butter doesn’t make USC oily or greasy. It blends into a creamy *light* sauce. This recipe is the real thing.

I found it in a 1922 cookbook. It’s magic.
One Easter I made it to go with the ham — and I t made an old vet, an Air Force colonel, roll his eyes back in his head with ecstasy and fake not tearing up — as he’d not tasted “exactly the real thing” since his mom passed in the 60’s.
It’s magic. I would never expect the deliciousness to come from such simplify and no fuss.

This is nearly word for word the recipe my mom taught me to make when I was a teen. I’m in my 50’s now, so that’s been awhile! Everyone in our extended family loves them and requests them. People all seem confused at first because they expect cheese. Over the years Potatoes Au Gratin have become confused with scalloped potatoes. And so many rely on box mixes or using soup bases when this is SO much easier and TASTIER!

I have made 2 small alterations that I sometimes use – I use 1 part rich chicken stock (not broth) to 2 parts milk, and I sprinkle paprika over the top before baking for added color and flavor. The stock adds an incredible richness. But don’t try it with thin canned broth or worse yet, bullion.

It was also in a BH&G spiral bound cookbook I received in 1967. I gave the cookbook to my daughter after she was married and she can’t find the cookbook now ! I’ve looked for this recipe forever ! I throw the in left over ham pieces and add some velveeta cheese and my meal is done!

I have made these for 30 yrs but mine is a little different and takes abt 75 mins ,, I do not peel my taters I slice them thin early and soak in cold water .. I use a cast iron skillet put down a layer of taters salt – pepper to taste – sprinkle ( I use a non gmo flour ) with flour pats of real raw butter ( non Salted ) parsley then the next layer ( you can put cheese in the layers ) then I pour milk over the top make sure it is abt covered in milk ( again I use raw milk with the cream in it ) bake 350 covered checking it for fluid last 10 mins remove cover brown it a bit and bam mine makes a custard almost in between the layers

I made a slight variation and it came out great. Fried up the onions in butter, added milk and diced ham. Seasoned with salt, pepper and paprika. Added 2 tablespoons cornstarch into 1/4 cup cold water and stired it in. As soon as it started to thicken I added the potatoes previously cooked in the microwave. Great, simple, quick meal.

I made this for company – and LOVED it. Usually, I’d blog it (with full credit to you, of course) – but I didn’t get a photo, because we scarfed it so fast. It’s great because you can prep earlier in the day, and then throw in the oven while you do other things (like drink wine)

So simple, I couldn’t believe how much flavor it had. I’m a convert. Thanks so much for posting this. I pink puffy heart you 🙂 lol.

Since you mentioned doing the prep earlier in the day, I just wanted to point out to those who may not know — make sure that the potatoes are completely submerged in the liquid, to keep them from turning black. (So appetizing, eh?) And store the prepped casserole dish in the refrigerator. You’ll probably need to bake it a bit longer from cold.

Another option for prepping early is to peel and slice the potatoes and keep them in a bowl, completely submerged in cold water. Also, peel & slice/chop the onion and refrigerate (I store onions in a wide-mouth canning jar, re-using a lid from something I canned). Drain the potatoes REALLY well, then assemble the dish as above.

The recipe should work fine doubled, you will need to monitor the cook time depending on the size / type of dish you use. If you use one large dish, it’s not going to be the same as baking two of the original size. (It’ll take longer due to the amount of surface area exposed to the heat)

Are you using a white sauce base? If so, you are boiling your milk. Melt butter, add flour to make a rue. Very gradually add milk or cream. Stir constantly , over medium heat, until the white sauce is the desired thickness

I just popped this into the oven. I’m sure it will be fabulous! I had to add a few more potatoes to the recipe because my daughter’s boyfriend is a teenage eating machine and will be joining us for dinner 🙂 I wanted to have enough for the rest of us to eat! Thanks for the inspiration.

I love homemade scalloped potatoes. I adore onions and usually use about 1/2 the amount of onion as potatoes. I also love a bit of heat and add ground red pepper. Mmmm, I might have to bake a ham and cook the potatoes next weekend.

You can definitely up the onion content – I do just that if my son isn’t eating with us. He’s recently decided that cooked onions aren’t really his thing. I don’t leave them out just for him, but I do use restraint.

I’ve tried a number of scalloped potatoes recipes, but have never found one that had quite the taste or texture I was looking for. I’ll have to give this one a try.
I really like that it doesn’t use canned soup (I’m trying to limit my household’s consumption of these) and it doesn’t seem too laborious. Thanks!

This sounds fabulous! I’ve tried some other “simple” scalloped potato recipes and have ended up with a relatively decent tasting sauce….but it’s only covering about the top 1/3 of the potatoes. This seems like it’s MUCH more likely to spread the sauce through the WHOLE dish!